Injustice
by LongRider
Summary: You all know the story. Clark Kent becomes Superman. This is not that story. What if Clark chose a different path, a darker path? What if he chose the path of the villain? What if he became Ultraman?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement or insult is intended. Reviews are always welcome. Lawsuits are not.

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Jack Jennings watched on with a heavy heart as Jonathan and Martha's kid stood like a rock in a sea of well wishers.

He knew they all had the best intentions, but Clark had to be practically numb to the heartfelt words and tearful platitudes of Smallville's residents by now. _Half the town must have been through here, Jonathan and Martha were well liked._

The enormity of such a loss seemed to be lost on his wife, who had already left. But Jack felt it keenly, he had known Jonathan since they were kids, they had grown up together, they had been as close as brothers as they raised a little hell throughout the town and surrounding county, bringing a little excitement to the otherwise quiet area. All in the name of fun, in the wisdom of maturity Jack could look back on it as the recklessness of youth, but back then they had needed to do something to get rid of all that pent up energy that made it impossible for either of them to sit still. Nothing too serious, driving faster than authority figures deemed safe, chasing girls whose parents didn't approve, plus a few other things that seemed like a good idea back then. Jack couldn't help smiling. _Good times._

It was because of those times that he had blown off his responsibilities as a Kansas State Senator, in order to watch out for the closest thing he had to a nephew.

"How is he holding up?" Came a voice from his side, looking across his shoulder, Jack spotted Lex Luthor, Smallville's very own bad boy turned heir to a fortune five hundred company. And the last person Jack could imagine as a friend of Clarks.

"About as well as expected, he handled the toasts and funny stories better, now that people are leaving I think it's really hitting him." Jack said as he took another pull on his bottle of beer. _Senatorial image be damned, he and Jonathan had been drinking this particular brand since they were Clark's age._

"How many times could you hear 'I'm sorry' over and over before you got sick of it senator?" Jack released a snort at his words.

"You have a point, Mister Luthor." Meeting his look, Jack noticed the younger man's smile didn't quite reach his eyes and lasted a heartbeat before it fell and his focus turned back to Clark.

"Lex." He offered into the uncomfortable silence. Taking a large swallow from his glass.

"Jack." He returned to also looking in the same direction.

Lex's expression turned to anger as he spotted a familiar face heading towards Clark.

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"Black and white striped tie, four bodies back from Clarks left." Lex snarled. Jack spotted the tall man with a receding hairline, who seemed to be walking with a spring in his step compared to everybody else.

"Trouble?" Jack asked. Lex just scoffed.

"Worse. Roger Nixon, a tabloid reporter" Jack just stared at the man in question.

"What the hell does he want?"

"Nothing good, excuse me Jack." Lex headed forward to intercept Nixon.

Jack watched as Luthor sidestepped into Nixon's path. If the reporters reaction was any indication, he hadn't even realised Lex was in the same room. _Whatever he wanted to say to Clark would have to wait._

Jack headed over to Clark and lead him outside for some fresh air.

More importantly, away from the well wishes of the survivor's of Smallville's tornadoes.

 _It just wasn't fair!_ Jonathan was raised in Kansas, he knew exactly what to do to stay safe. Yet somehow, both Jonathan and Martha were gone and people like Nixon where still here.

 _What could have caused them to get caught in the tornadoes path?_

 _More importantly, what would become of Clark now that he had lost his parents?_

Jack knew as much as he wanted to, he couldn't take Clark in. Clark needed time to himself away from prying eyes. His life was a full time job under the constant watchful eye of his very own tabloid media circus. Child services would never allow Clark to be a part of that.

Martha's estranged father was a big shot lawyer from some city Jack couldn't remember. As far as he knew, the man was the only family Clark had. Jack also remembered the aftermath of Jonathan's one and only attempt to ask the man's permission to marry Martha.

William Clark hadn't been welcome in Smallville since before Clark was adopted. As far as Jack knew, he'd never even met his grandson.

Jonathan and Martha had never said anything about any arrangements they might have made, should the unthinkable happen. Jack wondered if Clark would know.

 _Tomorrow_ , Jack decided to ask Clark about it tomorrow.

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Author's Note: This story is heavily influenced by ben10987654321's "SmallvileX Earth 2" and Chunk127's "Rise Of The Syndicate". Story outlines, I recommend them to anyone. For me, the whole point of the Superman legend is that he is the hero because of who raised him, namely Jonathan and Martha Kent. In the Smallville series canon Clark Luthor becomes Ultraman. That version of Clark was raised by Lionel Luthor, so it's a given that Clark Luthor couldn't have become anything other than a monster, having been raised by a monster. I wanted to write about what could happen to Clark Kent for him to become Ultraman.


	2. Chapter 2

William Clark slipped his feet back in to a pair of old, but still comfortable shoes before he stood up to join the mass of people exiting Ferris Air commercial flight 2814.

Absentmindedly buttoning his suit jacket, William couldn't help feeling his tired joints protest with every step as he made his way down to the tarmac, following the procession to the small and cramped looking airport shuttle that would take them to the main terminal building.

Smallville's very own airport was a modest sized operation that hosted cargo flights, a handful of commercial planes and even it's own quaint little flight school for two seater aircraft that could teach a person everything they needed to know to become a pilot. _If the advertisement on the side of the cafe building was to be believed._

William tried to focus on what he had to do as he mentally shrugged off the flight from coast city. Something about flying always left him feeling tired, something about the cabin pressure, or altitude, or, if he was honest with himself, his age.

After a long and distinguished career as a trial attorney in Metropolis, William and Mary Clark had moved out to coast city to enjoy their retirement years.

The only regret William had was that he hadn't been able to convince his only daughter to follow in his footsteps at the firm.

Martha Clark had a first class mind and a singular talent for pulling the important facts from documents, statements and people. Her career advancement would have been a sight to behold.

But Martha Clark had not taken any of the **many** options William had painstakingly laid out for her.

Not for the first time, William Clark rued the day that his daughter met that damn hick farmer from Smallville.

Kent had come to see him in Metropolis out of some ill advised attempt at gaining his permission to marry Martha.

William had given Jonathan a very honest and blunt answer.

He had made it clear, in no uncertain terms that he did not approve of the younger man who claimed to love his daughter.

Jonathan Kent, barely into his twenties, had inherited a farm that was drowning in debt. The responsible thing to do would have been to sell off the surrounding acres to generate capital to be used against that debt. Instead, Jonathan had given up on any real future he might have had for the sake of tradition and keeping his families name on a deed to a plot of land out of some misguided wish to please Hiram Kent, who had handled the farm in question so badly that the now dead man's son would most likely work himself into an early grave. Proving equally how stubborn Kent men could be and how unsuitable a husband he would make.

Jonathan had let him say his piece, jaw clenched and back ramrod straight, he'd then hit William so hard that it had left a hairline fracture in his cheekbone. Jonathan had said a few things that William had trouble recalling. _His ears had been ringing at the time._ And stormed out.

Two things had happened not long after that.

Martha Clark chose to become Martha Kent. Over several valid and very sensible objections.

And William and Mary Clark didn't speak to their only daughter for almost twenty years.

William took a sharp inhalation as he realised just how long it had been since he'd seen Martha. _Twenty years!_

His little girl had fallen in love, left her family behind, made a new one and even raised a son.

Only to have her life cut short by something as meaningless as bad weather. The sharp twinge in his chest that thought brought about almost dropped him to his knees.

William realised all he had left of his beautiful, brilliant daughter was a stranger. A young man practically all grown up, who was now an orphan.

Clark Kent hadn't even known where his grandparents were living, so while others had been searching for them, their grandson had to suffer through the pain of losing his parents, making arrangements for their funerals and then staying in a house with hundreds of reminders of what was missing.

It was only thanks to Senator Jack Jennings, an old childhood friend of Jonathan's, that young Clark Kent wasn't staying in some facility provided by child services.

Waiting for his hastily packed suitcase to arrive. William couldn't help feeling every one of his years as he longed for his comfortable townhouse, with it's comfortable upholstered furniture and comfortable ergonomic mattress.

He was far to old to be gallivanting across the country on a cramped, uncomfortable plane, to sleep in an unfamiliar bed, alone without his wife.

Mary had wept when they had received the phone call from a Sheriff Ethan Miller informing them that Martha and her husband had died. _They hadn't even been able to attend the funeral._ She'd dried her eyes, pulled herself together, then pulled him together and told him firmly that he **was** going to go and get their grandson while she got the guest bedroom ready and started looking into an appropriate school for him. Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt just where Martha had gotten her courage from.

William blinked hard at the mixed emotions that recent events had forced on him. He'd much rather be meeting his grandson for the first time under any other circumstances than this. His first attempt at parenthood had been a long time ago and now here he was taking responsibility for a teenage boy he knew next to nothing about. He freely admitted the prospect terrified him. Life it seemed, seldom played out the way he'd wanted.

But he was going to try.

For his grandson.

For Martha.


End file.
